2 December 2021 ~ H2 Photographic Society

2 December 2021

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H2 NEWSLETTER

An warm welcome to members and friends of
H2 Photographic Society

Please note H2 now operates on a hybrid model with meetings alternating between Zoom & in the hall. Please check the calendar below for where the meeting is and the zoom invite/location details.

Autumn Leaf Colours by Paul Tatman

This Week: Sparks & Smoke Practical

..It's in the Hall. It's a Christmas themed practical with sparklers and smoke...if it all goes well :)
So bring your camera & tripod.
It is also hand in for the still life competition, so don't forget to bring your prints with you. In addition, you will need to email in a dpi copy of your entries to dpi@h2photo.prg.uk with the subject "Still Life".
Tomorrow is the last day for your entries for the league competition so get sending them in now by emailing dpi@h2photo.org.uk with the subject "leaguecomp2".

So that is:

29/11 - email in league comp
2/12 - bring your still life prints & cameras to the hall, email a dpi version of the still life.

Barcelona Marathon 6th November 2021 by Geoff Yates

Up Coming Competitions

Coming up we have two competitions; one DPI and one PRINT.

The first is our Second League competition of this season. The entries are up to three DPI images on any subject and the hand-in is on or before 29 November. It will be judged by independent judge, Kirsty Ralfs, over Zoom on Thursday 9 December.

And the second is our Still Life competition is being judged by David Steele at MH Village Hall on 16 December. It is a PRINT competition; now we should all have some still life images from the many practical sessions we have had over the past few weeks.

Restarting print competitions is a positive sign that the pandemic is receding (fingers crossed for the latest reports on the Omicron variant...). We encourage all members to print their best images - either with home-printers or specialist commercial printers - and mount them to 50 x 40 cm. Up to four entries are allowed and should be entered on or before 2 Dec.

Any questions, just ask a member of the committee.

He's Away by Graham Woolmer

Last Week...An Excellent Presentation
What a creative and motivational presentation we enjoyed last Thursday evening.

Polina Plotnikova is an extraordinary still life photographer who has comprehensively researched artists within her chosen genre to inspire, enlighten and develop her unique style.

It surprised few of us that she began her photographic journey using film; a time when photographers were limited to the number of images taken by both film-changing, processing & and the cost of both.

Even in the unlimited-number-digital-image-taking possibilities that we frequent today, she admitted to (sometimes) taking only 5 images at the end of a 3-hour studio shoot.

Her images created in the "Old Masters'" style were superb, evidencing proficiency in both composition and lighting.

See her website here

And she has been kind enough to send us some follow up notes which can be seen below.

Thank you Polina, for a thoroughly captivating presentation

Polina's Follow Up Notes

Just a few follow up notes.

Please see below a few things I have mentioned during my talk that may be of interest.

In no particular order:

The studio light I use manufactured by Bowens.

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/bowens-xmt500-twin-head-softbox-kit-10002951/

Good budget option for continuous light:

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/interfit-f5-two-head-fluorescent-lighting-kit-1579703/

The software I use for remote shooting and for focus stacking called Helicon and it exists in few packages - I have Helicon remote which I use for remote shooting and Helicon focus which I use for focus stacking.

Here is official web site with lots of demo footage and easy to get a trial version of software:

http://www.heliconsoft.com/

The paper I use to print my images is Hahnemühle Photo Rag, which I usually buy from Paperspectrum company, but they also sell great budget friendly option: Pinnacle Photo Rug.

http://www.paperspectrum.co.uk/

Occasionally I use Permajet brand - Portrait White, which is also matt, slightly textured paper.

Some of backgrounds (fabric ones, not digital) I use come from either B&H :

www.bhphotovideo.com
or from WEX:
http://www.wexphotographic.com/

I prefer collapsible backgrounds as they are easy to assemble an a few seconds and easy to store.

Very well-made artificial flowers that I use for practising and teaching come from:

www.amaranthineblooms.co.uk

Clamps to support flowers in front of the camera called Wimberley The Plamp II :

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/wimberley-the-plamp-ii-1553097/

Readymade medium size background boards I use for teaching purposes are produced and sold by Photo Boards company:

https://www.photoboards.org/collections/the-full-collection

Any local art shop is usually a good source of backgrounds; I usually buy art paper popular for arts and crafts. You can photograph it separately and use it as an added layer in Photoshop achieving various effects by changing the opacity and blending mode.

I use pre-cut mounts from Cotswoldmounts - very reliable service with reasonable prices:

http://www.cotswoldmounts.co.uk/

Names of the artists and photographers whose work influenced me:

Jan van Huysum (1682 – 1749)
Pierre-Joseph Redouté’s (1759-1840)
Lilian Snelling (1879–1972)
Georgia O'Keeffe (1887 – 1986)
Robert Mapplethorpe (1946 - 1989)
Ron Van Dongen (1964 - )

Willem Claesz. Heda (1594-1680)
Francisco de Zurbarab (1598-1664)
Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844-1926)
Rene Francois Ghislain Margitte (1898-1967)
Soren Emil Carlsen (1853-1932)

Vanitas still life examples by:
Edward Collier
Adriaen van Utrecht

I run Introduction into Creative Flower Photography, Intermediate Creative Flower Photography, Advanced Creative Flower Photography and Still Life workshops at Amersham studios in collaboration with RPS:

https://tradesecrets.live/

Amersham studios also offer customised workshop for a group of up to 8 people, it is a good value per person and very convenient if you have group of 8 as you don’t have to wait till places become available and can book the whole day for your group straight away:

https://tradesecrets.live/product/private-workshop-with-polina-plotnikova-up-to-8-people/

If you prefer one2one sessions I run them at the studio in Wimbledon, you can find all the relevant information on my web site:

https://www.polinaplotnikova.com/section851288.html

All one2one or small groups (up to three participants) are tailored to your own needs.

I also offer online one2one tuition (via Zoom) on subjects related to creative postprocessing of flowers and still life including the practical session aimed at improving still life composition, usage of layers and textures in Photoshop and mimicking multiple exposure if you can’t do it in-camera.

Another thing you might find interesting is my photo tour in Bruges which I lead for Wilde Photography Holidays Company:

https://wildphotographyholidays.com/holidays/bruges-belgium-a-medieval-romance

I am member of Arena Photographers Group, we run the whole weekend photography seminar once a year in Bournemouth:

https://arenaphotographers.com/

I regularly update my official website:

www.polinaplotnikova.com

And here is my Facebook and Instagram accounts:

https://www.facebook.com/polina.plotnikova.372
https://www.instagram.com/photoartitude/

Please do not hesitate to drop me an e-mail if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Polina Plotnikova, FRPS EFIAP

Confrontation by Warren Martin

THANK YOU 1

We thank H2 members for sharing their best work on our (members-only) H2 Flickr page. It has become a meeting place for members to contribute to our community and we would encourage every member to upload their work.

If any member needs assistance to upload their work just contact our committee by clicking here

THANK YOU 2

Many thanks to H2's Warren (Martin) and Geoff (Yates) for the interest and time they take to keep our (public) H2 Photo SHOWCASE Flickr page populated with a regularly updated stream of our high-quality work.

Take a look here

Mist On The Lake by Marie King

The Zoom invitation for all our meetings is below, all are welcome to come along; members & non-members alike.

Zoom Invite

Topic: H2 Club Evening
Time: "Doors" open at 07:30 PM for 7:45 Start
Every week on a Thursday

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82906584413?pwd=dnFuRG9LUzBzU0hlSFZ3NDAzYkluQT09

Meeting ID: 829 0658 4413
Password: 927576

Delphinium by Heather Clarke

H2 SHOWCASE is where our club shows its work "to the world" which allows non-members to see H2's work.

New images created by our members are added regularly.

Do take a look by clicking here

Physical Meetings

Thinking of joining? Feel free to pop along for a warm welcome

Meetings are 7.45p.m. to 9.45p.m.

Much Hadham Village Hall
Oudle Ln
Much Hadham
SG10 6DQ
United Kingdom

There is a carpark and entrance at the back of the hall.
(Note: do check our programme - we now run a hybrid model with meetings at the hall alternating with virtual Zoom meetings)

Google Maps

What 3 Words: reward.code.bumps

Entrance Fees

£3	Members
£5	Couples
£4	Guests

H2 Programme

Here is our programme for the next few weeks.

Programme as Google Calendar (finally updated)

Date	Location	Activity
02 December 2021	In Hall	Christmas, Sparks & Smoke Practical 29-Nov-2021-Hand In For League Competition Round 2 (DPI) 02-Dec-2021-Hand In For Still life comp (print)
09 December 2021	Zoom	League Competition Round 2 Judge: Kirsty Ralfs ARPS QGP
16 December 2021	In Hall	Still life comp (print) Judge: David Steele
23 December 2021	Zoom	Christmas Quiz & photo hunt setup

Fruit in Mono by Jo Cleall

Rules for Competition entries

Prints need to be handed in a week before the competition (but as we meet every other week it is actually 2 weeks in advance), a digital copy of the image must also be submitted via email.

Digital Images need to be submitted 10 days before via email

How to Submit Images via Email

First prepare images following the guidelines for projected images.
Create a new email to dpi@h2photo.org.uk
Set the Subject of the email to the name of the competition from the lists below.
Attach your files and send them

You should get a reply within a few minutes telling you if your entry has been successful.

Example
To enter the Portrait competition we send an email to dpi@h2photo.org.uk with the subject Portrait with our pictures attached to it.

Email Subject	Competition Description	Last Entry Date	Type
LeagueComp2	League Competition 2	29/11/2021	DPI
Still Life	Still Life Print Competition	02/12/2021	Print
PhotoHunt	Photo Hunt Challenge	10/01/2022	DPI
Mono	Mono Print Competition	20/01/2022	Print
Guess	Guess What this is	07/02/2022	DPI
LeagueComp3	League Competition 3	14/03/2022	DPI
Panel	Panel Competition	11/04/2022	DPI
LeagueComp4	League Competition 4	16/05/2022	DPI
Phone	Smartphone Critique	23/05/2022	DPI
DpiCritique	Dpi Of The Year Critique	13/06/2022	DPI
DpiOfTheYear	Dpi Of The Year	27/06/2022	DPI

Any problems please drop me a mail: chris@shepherdpics.com

Committee Minutes

If you want to keep up with what our committee is discussing you can find all the details here.

Do Join Us For Our 2021-2022 Season

Our packed programme has already started with a mixture of fun activities, talks, practices and competitions. Whether you enjoy photography as a hobby and wish to improve, or you are more advanced, we would love you to join us. Take a look at our programme by clicking here.

And do get in touch

To contact H2PS click here